A Friend in Need
by Jenny27261
Summary: Regina has given up on her life in Storybrooke following the death of her mother, what happens when she tries to leave and winds up in a place that is decidedly not Earth?


Done.

That was one word to describe the way Regina Mills felt at that very moment. Because at that very moment, Regina Mills, the fabled 'Evil Queen' had nowhere left to turn.

Hopeless was another. At least when her mother was there it left a hope in what remained of her heart for a brighter future. One with her son back where he belonged, in her house, loving her and not the alleged 'Savior' who hadn't done much saving since being reunited with her parents. Now without her mother, there was nobody left. Her mother was dead. Regina was officially an orphan, no matter how much she hadn't intended it. Her heart felt empty and in her distraught state she came up with a single idea.

Under any normal circumstance, the formerly evil Queen would never have considered leaving Storybrooke, much less without a word to anybody but under the cover of night, she packed her car and began the drive out of the town she has so carefully crafted. All of that had gone to waste, nobody even bothered to think about the improvements she had made to the majority of all of their lives. She gave them everything in that town, yet they turned on her, shunned her. Of course Regina completely understood why but she was too far gone to see past the pain and into the hope of a better tomorrow.

Hope was nothing but a myth created by the ones in the world who claimed to be good, much like the old adage that the winner never states that it's 'just a game,' now that Regina was thinking about it.

Regina reached the border and stopped her car. She stepped out into the cold night air and looked back down the path leading to the town she once ruled. There was an odd pain in her chest, knowing that she was giving up on everything she had worked for. She was giving up on her son, the same son who at one point was the only thing keeping her from teetering over the edge. At least beyond Storybrooke, magic didn't exist. What use was magic if it only ever brought her pain and suffering, she wondered in a brief moment of clarity.

The former mayor closed her eyes for a moment and exhaled. With it, every last bit of magic she had slowly seeped from her fingertips. That would be Storybrooke's problem now. As of this moment, Regina Mills was free.

However there was a small glitch in this concept that Regina did not foresee. She had no idea how much power she truly kept inside of her at any given moment. Between the pent up magic that she had been trying not to use and the magic she absorbed at the well, she was well over the normal capacity. Instead of the usual billowing smoke everywhere, there was a light unlike one she had ever felt before. Before she could move to stop it the light had engulfed her entirely and in a flash, Storybrooke was gone...or was Regina Mills finally gone from Storybrooke?

Regina groaned as the sunlight touched her eyes. The brunette had no idea where she was exactly but she was certainly in the comfort of a bed of some sort. Her first thought was that something had happened and that damned Charming family had taken her back to Storybrooke. Or was she in prison now that her magic had wrought havoc on the town? Slowly her eyes creaked open, finding that she was not in fact in a prison at all. This world was so...brightly colored, almost as if it had been drawn that way. It's was almost precious in a way, how the light danced off of the numerous bookshelves around her. She blinked slowly, voices began to flood her ears.

"Hey guys, I think she's wakin' up." A voice came from across the room, a distinct southern twang could be heard in her speech.

"Oh good, I was starting to become worried." Another, far more regal voice spoke.

"Somebody should go get Twilight. There's still something off about her to me." A third voice said.

"Oh I'm sure she'll be fine. Let me take a look at her." A soft voice said, followed by an oddly familiar and distinct sound, almost like a horse's hooves against the floor. Regina turned her head to find not one, but five colorful horses on the other side of the room. "Oh.." The soft voiced pony smiled, her coat was a creamy yellow color, offset by an equally soft pink mane. "You are awake, hello there." She said shyly, her mane covered one of her eyes but the visible one was clearly a dark teal color, like a sunlit ocean.

"Where the hell am I?" Regina slowly tried to sit up but found instead that her hands gave out on her and she fell back.

"Hang on there Sugarcube." An orange pony with a blonde mane rushed to stop her. "You took quite the fall there. I think it's best you stay down for a little bit."

"You fell right out of the sky, it was so cool! Did your balloon pop? That happened to me once! It was so scary but then Rainbow Dash here saved me! Just like she did with you! What's your name? I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie almost seemed to teleport so her face was hovering directly above Regina's, which caused the brunette to scream. A white pony with a purple mane moved Pinkie out of the way with an apologetic smile.

"You're in Ponyville, I'm sorry about Pinkie. This must be all rather jarring considering that you've just woken up." She smiled.

"Ponyville? You're kidding right?" Regina groused. "I must be dreaming. Something hit me and now I'm dreaming." She attempted to rationalize. "It was that damned Blue Fairy wasn't it?"

"Wow she must have hit her head on the way down or something." Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow. Regina lifted her hands to touch her face and found that something was horribly wrong. Her chocolate brown eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she looked at the new hooves in place of her hands and screamed. She examined herself frantically, finding that she was a soft shade of red though her hair...erm...mane was now long and unkempt, though it was still the shade of brown she knew to be her own. Her hooves felt her new face, finding she now had a snout where her nose used to be. The pony screamed.

"What am I?" She cried out, her eyes welling with tears.

"You're a pony? Now I know that for whatever reason you're alarmed but please dear, you're giving me a terrible headache." The regal pony put her hoof to her head. Regina stared at them in disbelief, she tried to get out of bed only for the orange pony to stop her again.

"Now I don't want to scare you or nothin' but you really shouldn't be gettin' up." She soothed. "We can't have you fallin' all over the place like one of the Baby Cakes now can we?" The blonde pony offered a smile that Regina could only scowl at. She wanted to leave Storybrooke but she had expected to go to New York or Boston or somewhere else, not...Ponyville. The word left a horrible taste in her mouth.

"Who are all of you?" Regina questioned with narrow eyes, the reality of her situation slowly sinking in.

"Rainbow Dash! Nice to meet you!" The blue pony grinned, doing a small loop in the air with her wings before settling back on the ground, stirring up some wind that left the white pony fixing her mane. The white horse took a small step forward.

"Rarity, pleasure to meet you-I"

"Applejack." The orange pony interrupted. "You met Pinkie Pie already." They all turned to the pink pony behind them who seemed to be preparing a cannon of some sort, a party blower in her mouth. Noting their stares, the blower fell from her mouth.

"No welcome party?" She pouted

"Later." Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Hello...I'm Fluttershy." The yellow pony spoke up, having remained mostly silent so far. "Um...who are you?"

"Regina Mills, The Evil Queen." The red pony returned angrily, the other ponies looked at her with confused expressions. Clearly they hadn't heard of her. "I've been transported here by some sort of magic. Now tell me how to get home."

"Where is this home of yours exactly?" Rarity questioned, suddenly cross from Regina's rudeness.

"Earth. I'm from Storybrooke...or I was. I was trying to leave when something brought me here!"

"I think I can explain that." A voice came from the door. In a brief flash of light a purple pony appeared, her wings flapped for a second to become more comfortable before she spoke. "Hello Regina, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle." Regina rolled her eyes at this, their names seemed to get more absurd the more she thought about them. What kind of parents would name their child, horse or human, Twilight Sparkle of all things? "My friends sent word that they found you and I have something from Princess Celestia about how you came here." Her horn began to glow and out of the saddlebags she wore a scroll came through. It floated in the air to Regina where she read it for herself. Deep brown eyes scanned the note, choosing to ignore the fact that this land was governed by pretty princesses, not unlike Snow White who was probably running Storybrooke by now. Regina looked up with a huff of frustration.

"You're kidding right? 'A random act of forces beyond our control' is not an explanation. It's an excuse. Do you people-"

"Ponies!" Pinkie corrected.

"ponies..." Regina amended through gritted teeth. "really expect me to take that as an answer? Where is this Princess Celestia? If you all look upon her so highly she should have some actual power shouldn't she?"

"Of course she has power. Without her the sun wouldn't rise. Without her sister Luna the moon wouldn't rise either...without Princess Cadence people would never fall in love and the Crystal Empire would fall." Twilight listed, only adding to Regina's disbelief and confusion. Their so-called 'princesses' were more like literal gods, or at least they seemed that way.

"Then what are you in charge of?"

"Me? Oh I'm just a princess in training. I don't really have power over anything yet." Twilight shrugged with a smile.

"Except she's the best pony at magic in all of Equestria since Starswirl the Bearded. And even he was never an alicorn." Fluttershy added politely.

"Right...so what am I supposed to do? Just wait until something sends me back? I have a life to get to." Not back to Regina realized. As cushy as this world seemed, it was certainly a change from the unfriendly streets of Storybrooke. So what if she stayed for a while? If nothing else at least it would be somewhere other than the home she had claimed for herself over the past twenty nine years.

"The princesses and I are working on it. I'm sorry Regina, but you're welcome to stay here, it's where I stayed when I first got to Ponyville. Maybe you might be able to find something about what happened to you here." Twilight offered.

"We'll help ya find your way while you're here though! If you need anything just find one of us!" Applejack added.

"We'd want to make sure that your stay, however temporary, is as comfortable as possible." Rarity continued.

"And if you haven't ever walked on hooves before I'd be happy to help you learn how, but if you ask me, wings are a lot more efficient. Did you have alicorns where you came from?" Rainbow Dash asked. Regina was overwhelmed by their hospitality, she never would have gotten that in Storybrooke from anybody. As awful as the situation may have been, at least the people were kind here.

"This is all very overwhelming. May I have some time alone? Uh...thank you for all of your help." Regina asked politely.

"Of course! We'll just go downstairs." Twilight began.

"If ya need anything, just holler and we'll be right there." Applejack said, following the group as the walked down the stairs.

Regina lie back in bed and huffed, she tried her magic, only finding that some sparks fled from the horn on her head. Well, it was a start, perhaps one of them would help her figure out how to use it again. So this was it, this was where she was stuck. With a frown she turned on her side, examining her hooves. Why of all places had she been brought here? Why not anywhere else? And how for that matter? Nothing felt as though it was making sense anymore.

The Evil Queen closed her eyes and hoped that when she opened them again, this all would have just been some horrible dream.

* * *

**So this is sort of an experimental concept I have come up with and I'd love to know your thoughts about doing a full story with more chapters and such. I have it planned to give each pony and Regina a chapter together and if you like this sort of concept then please comment/review! I'd love the feedback! Thanks again for reading!**

**Jen**


End file.
